Hotel guests forced to evacuate as fire crews tackle blaze in Birmingham city centre building
Hotel guests at a Birmingham city centre Premier Inn were forced to evacuate from their rooms after a fire broke out in the ground floor of an adjoining building.
Crews from West Midlands Fire Service were called to the scene on New Street at 2.40am on Sunday morning, with 12 fire engines and five brigade response vehicles attending the scene.
The fire, which was located on the ground floor of the mixed-use building occupied by HSBC and Premier Inn, was tackled by firefighters using breath apparatus and was confirmed as out at 4.10am, with further checks made to identify and clear the remaining smoke.
Four people were treated for smoke inhalation, while around 200 people were evacuated from the hotel and later rehoused at another Premier Inn in the city centre.
A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said: "We were called at 2.40am on Sunday 5 October to reports of a fire on New Street in Birmingham city centre.
"12 fire engines and five brigade response vehicles attended, crewed by firefighters from stations across the Birmingham area.
"The fire was located on the ground floor of a mixed-use tall building, a bank with a hotel above.
"14 firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the fire. It was confirmed to be out shortly before 4.10am. Firefighters carried out further checks to identify and clear remaining pockets of smoke.
"Four people were treated for smoke inhalation, three of whom were led to safety by our crews.
"Around 200 people were evacuated from the hotel, and firefighters have carried out a thorough, floor-by-floor search of the building. Firefighters checked every room of the hotel, and there were no further casualties."
A spokeswoman for Premier Inn said: "Our hotel on New Street was evacuated this morning due to a fire in an adjoining building.
“All guests were evacuated safely and have now been able to collect their belongings and were moved to a nearby Premier Inn.
“We would like to thank the emergency services for their response and the swift actions of our team to ensure the evacuation was handled quickly and calmly, and ensuring guests were able to be cared for in one of our nearby hotels.”
